This is how I feel reading Oppenheimer’s biography. He came from an affluent family and apparently never had to worry about paying the bills, being free to fully dedicate himself to the things that interested him. The guy was a genius, no doubt about that… I just feel that we would have a lot more geniuses out there if we didn’t have to work so much in order to enjoy so little.
“I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.”
- Stephen Jay Gould
I’m not jealous of rich people’s possessions or lifestyle. I’m worried about the power they wield over other people’s lives. Their power to affect the laws that get passed, their power to close down stores and factories and lay off all the workers, their power to kick people out of their homes.
The closer I get to my retirement the more I realize how much of my life has been wasted at my job. It’s sad really.
I’m envious of the rich because they’ll never know the struggle of having to choose between gas in the car to get to work, or paying your bills so the heat stays on.
It’s the security that I want. If I could quit my job tomorrow and all my bills would be convered and all my debts (and their related payments) suspended, and I was given enough to put food on the table… Then I’d be a lot happier. I’d know that I’ll never have to submit to some dickhead boss trying to push me around so I can be underpaid and go home late to my cold house because I don’t make enough to keep it warm.
The future is stupid.
That was most of the past, too
It was really only like 30-40 years when things were good economically for the average person. Every couple hundred years we get little blips like that for certain geographic areas.
It’s not so bad in Europe. Getting worse, but we have strong unions, so it takes longer.
I went from homeless to 6 figures and security is exactly what drove me so hard. It’s such a relief to just keep my bills and mortgage on autopay and never even think about it. I still feel like an imposter when I go to the grocery store and don’t have to keep track of how much every item costs to ensure I have enough to cover it.
I’m not rich by most definitions but getting to a point of real stability makes life so much easier. Granted I still worry all the time that I’ll be fired and I have backup plans upon backup plans in case shit hits the fan.
I mean fair but I’m also definitely jealous of the things they have
